ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Education
Ministry of Education releases first ever report on Performance Grading Index for Districts  for the year 2018-19 and 2019-20
The PGI-D report Graded725 districts in 2018-19 and 733 districts in 2019-20 across the States / UTs
The Department of School Education and Literacy , Ministry of Education today released the Performance Grading Index for Districts  for 2018-19 and 2019-20which assesses the performance of school education system at the District level by creating an index for comprehensive analysis.
The Indian Education System is one of the largest in the world with about 15 lakh schools, 97 lakh teachers, and nearly 26crore students from varied socio-economic backgrounds. DoSE&L devised Performance Grading Index  for States and released report for the reference years 2017-18 to 2019-20. Based on the success of State PGI, 83-indicator based PGI for District  has been designed to grade the performance of all districts in school education. The data is filled by districts through online portal. The PGI-D is expected to help the state education departments to identify gaps at the district level and improve their performance in a decentralized manner. The indicator-wise PGI score shows the areas where a district needs to improve. The PGI-D will reflect the relative performance of all the districts in a uniform scale which encourages them to perform better.
The PGI-D structure comprises of total weight age of 600 points across 83 indicators, which are grouped under 6 categories viz., Outcomes, Effective Classroom Transaction, Infrastructure Facilities & Student’s Entitlements, School Safety & Child Protection, Digital Learning and Governance Process. These categories are further divided into 12 domains, viz., Learning Outcomes and Quality , Access Outcomes , Teacher Availability and Professional Development Outcomes , Learning Management , Learning Enrichment Activities , Infrastructure, Facilities, Student Entitlements , School Safety and Child Protection , Digital Learning , Funds convergence and utilization , Enhancing CRCs Performance , Attendance Monitoring Systems  and School Leadership Development .
PGI-D grades the districts into ten grades viz., Highest achievable Grade is Daksh, which is for Districts scoring more than 90% of the total points in that category or overall. The lowest grade in PGI-D is called Akanshi-3 which is for scores upto10% of the total points.Ultimate objective of PGI-D is to help the districts to priorities areas for intervention in school education and thus improve to reach the highest grade.
The PGI-D 2020-21 is presently under compilation. PGI-D 2018-19 and 2019-20 provides insight into intra State comparison of progress of School education.
PGI-D report for 2018-and 2019 can be accessed at https://pgi.udiseplus.gov.in/#/home
Ministry of Communications
NDCP 2018: Public can give comments till 1st June
The Department of Telecommunications  has extended the last date for submission of comments on the recently published draft National Digital Communications Policy, 2018. Public and stakeholders can give their comments till 1st June 2018 through the MyGov portal, where the draft Policy has been hosted for public comments. It can be accessed at https://innovate.mygov.in/draft-ndcp-2018/
Several stakeholders had requested DoT to provide more time for giving inputs on the draft Policy. Earlier the deadline was set as 25th May 2018.
The DoT had released the draft NDCP on 1st May 2018 for public comments. The key objectives of the Policy include broadband for all, creating 4 million additional jobs in the Digital Communications sector, enhancing the contribution of the Digital Communications sector to 8% of India’s GDP from around 6% in 2017, propelling India to the Top 50 Nations in the ICT Development Index of ITU from 134 in 2017, enhancing India’s contribution to Global Value Chains, and ensuring Digital Sovereignty of the country.
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Ministry of Finance
Framing of rules for the amendments made by the Taxation Laws  Act, 2021
The Taxation Laws  Act, 2021 , which received the assent of the President on the 13th August, 2021, has, inter-alia, amended the Income-tax Act, 1961  so as to provide that no tax demand shall be raised in future on the basis of the amendment to section 9 of the Income-tax Act made vide Finance Act, 2012 for any offshore indirect transfer of Indian assets if the transaction was undertaken before 28th May, 2012 .
The amendment made by 2021 Act also provides that the demand raised for offshore indirect transfer of Indian assets made before 28th May, 2012  shall be nullified on fulfillment of specified conditions such as withdrawal or furnishing of undertaking for withdrawal of pending litigation and furnishing of an undertaking to the effect that no claim for cost, damages, interest, etc. shall be filed and such other conditions are fulfilled as may be prescribed. The amount paid/collected in these cases shall be refunded, without any interest, on fulfillment of the said conditions.
The aim of the amendment made by the 2021 Act is to bring tax certainty and ensure that once specified conditions are fulfilled, the pending Income-tax proceedings shall be withdrawn, demand, if any, raised shall be nullified, and amount, if any, collected shall be refunded to the taxpayer without any interest. To implement the amendment made by 2021 Act, draft rules have been prepared to amend the Income-tax Rules, 1962 which specify the conditions to be fulfilled and the process to be followed to give effect to the amendment made by the 2021 Act.
The draft notification containing the proposed rules is placed in public domain and can be accessed at www.incometaxindia.gov.in.
Suggestions/comments on the draft notification are invited from all stakeholders and the public and can be furnished electronically at the email address ustpl1[at]nic[dot]in latest by 4th September, 2021.
Ministry of Science & Technology
JNCASR Professor elected as International Honorary Member to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Professor Shobhana Narasimhan from the Theoretical Sciences Unit  at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research , an autonomous institute under the Department of Science & Technology, has been elected as an International Honorary Member to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences honours scholars and leaders who have distinguished themselves in the sciences, arts, humanities and public life. The list of previous International Honorary Members includes Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Nelson Mandela.
Prof Narasimhan heads the Computational Nanoscience group at JNCASR. She has done significant work on the rational design of nanomaterials, examining how the lowering of dimensionality and reduction of size affect material properties. Her work is relevant for a number of different applications, such as nanocatalysts for clean energy applications, and magnetic materials for memory storage.
Her group predicted that the morphology and reactivity of gold nanoparticles deposited on oxide substrates can be tuned by doping the support with electron donors or acceptors.
Prof. Narasimhan has also been very active in the promotion of women in STEM in India and abroad. She was a member of the Working Group for Women in Physics of IUPAP. Since 2013, she has been co-organizing Career Development Workshops for Women in Physics at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics  in Trieste, Italy, and the ICTP-EAIFR in Kigali, Rwanda.
Awards and Recognitions
She became a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India in 2011 and also received the Stree Shakti Samman Science Award in 2010 and the Kalpana Chawla Woman Scientist Award of the Government of Karnataka in 2010.
Prof. Narasimhan was a member of two committees set up by Govt. of India - the National Task Force on Women in Science, and the Standing Committee on Women in Science, to advise the government on how it can promote the cause of women scientists.
She has been involved with the Quantum ESPRESSO group as well as ASESMA  in teaching solid-state physics and Density Functional Theory in workshops in Asia and Africa. She is a member of the Executive Committee of ASESMA, and also a member of the Scientific Council of the ICTP-EAIFR  in Kigali, Rwanda.
Before joining JNCASR in 1996, Prof. Narasimhan completed her Master's at the Indian Institute of Technology  Bombay, in physics, and a PhD in physics at Harvard University under the supervision of Prof. David Vanderbilt. She worked as a postdoc at Brookhaven National Lab in New York, USA and then at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin, Germany. She was also formerly the chair of the Theoretical Sciences Unit, as well as the Dean of Academic Affairs at JNCASR.
Prof Shobhana Narasimhan  at a workshop for women in physics organized by her at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics .
[For more details contact Prof. Shobhana Narasimhan ]
Ministry of Defence
INDIA’S PARTICIPATION IN SEYCHELLES INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS
The Indian Navy contingent joined the enthusiastic personnel of the Seychelles Defence Force  and the proud citizens of Republic of Seychelles for the Independence Day celebrations.
INS Kolkata, an indigenously built Stealth Guided Missile Destroyer of the Indian Navy, was deployed to Port Victoria, Seychelles to coincide with the Independence Day of Seychelles on 29 June 22 and was dressed overall to mark the ceremonial occasion. A marching contingent of IN personnel along with Musical Band joined the Military Parade held at the Unity Stadium at Roche Caiman on 03 July 22. The deployment marked sustained participation of Indian Military Contingent in the Seychelles National Day since 1976.
Capt MS Khurana, the ship’s Commanding Officer called on HE Mr Ahmed Afif, the Vice President of Seychelles, HE Mr Sylvestre Radegonde, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Brigadier Michael Rosette, the Chief of Defence Staff of SDF and Col Jean Attala, the Commander, Seychelles Coast Guard.
During the port call, INS Kolkata delivered two engines of Dornier Aircraft of the SDF, which were overhauled at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd , Hyderabad. A set of engineering spares were also delivered to Seychelles Coast Guard  for sustenance of SCG ships. INS Kolkata hosted a large number of visitors and school children who were delighted to witness, first hand, the capabilities of this modern Destroyer of Indian Navy. Yoga enthusiasts at Seychelles enjoyed the unique experience of a Yoga Session on the deck of the ship.
SCG personnel embarked INS Kolkata from 29 June to 03 July 22 to conduct joint Surveillance operations in the Exclusive Economic Zone  of Seychelles along with Dornier Maritime Patrol Aircraft of Seychelles Air Force. During this phase, the ship facilitated operational training of SCG personnel to complement the ongoing training support provided by Indian Navy.
Long standing bilateral defence relations between India and Seychelles had received a positive boost after recent visit of Adm R Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff to Seychelles in April 2022. The deployment of INS Kolkata to Seychelles for participation in National Day celebrations, delivery of technical assistance and substantial operational interactions with Seychelles Defence Force during this deployment, has further raised the scale and scope of bilateral defence engagements.
Deployment of INS Kolkata was in consonance with vision of SAGAR which promotes collaborative efforts to ensure maritime security in the Indian Ocean. To this end, India remains committed to providing sustained support to capacity building & capability enhancement efforts of all maritime littorals of the Indian Ocean.
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Ministry of Education
Linking of Vocational and Higher Education
National Education Policy  2020 has advocated integration of vocational education with main stream education in a phased manner. Accordingly, University Grants Commission  has facilitated Higher Education Institutions  to offer skill-based programmes under National Skill Qualification Framework . The objective of NSQF is, inter alia, to integrate relevant skills into the higher education system in order to make higher education relevant to the learners and the community. In addition, UGC has also notified guidelines on Internship/Apprenticeship Embedded Degree Programme in the year 2020. As per the UGC Guidelines, any Under Graduate  degree programme is eligible to embed Internship/Apprenticeship into the degree programme. While UGC’s programmes for skill-based education emphasize on developing skilled workforce with vocational education, this emphasis on Internship/Apprenticeship is to improve the employability of students in general stream.
All India Council for Technical Education  has also brought out flexibility in the eligibility criteria for admission in Engineering courses in order to integrate skilling courses. It allows candidates having one of the vocational subjects as recognised by CBSE/ State Education Boards / or having B. Voc in specialised domain, for admission through lateral entry into 2nd year of B. Tech Programme in AICTE-approved Institutions.
AICTE has launched Kaushal Augmentation and Restructuring Mission of AICTE  Scheme for AICTE approved Institutions and Centrally funded Technical Institutions. Under this scheme Institutions are approved for providing Skill training as per NSQ Framework to School Drop Outs, Students Perusing their degree/Diploma and to willing School students of CBSE, State Boards in the vicinity of Institutions. Till February 2022 more than 1000 institutions have registered on KARMA portal.
In addition, Indira Gandhi National Open University  is offering Certificate, Diploma, Master degree level vocational programmes in the areas of Information Security, Business Process Outsourcing; Finance and Accounting, Communication and IT Skills, Fashion Design, Modern Office Practice, Pharmaceutical Sales Management and Entrepreneurship. The University acts as a national resource centre having twenty-one Schools of Study offering skill and competency-based programmes across a diverse range of disciplines, including the above stated areas.
The information was given by the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Subhas Sarkar in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
COVID-19 UPDATE
176.19 cr vaccine doses have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive
India's Active caseload currently stands at 1,64,522
Active cases stand at 0.38%
Recovery Rate currently at 98.42%
31,377 recoveries in the last 24 hours increases Total Recoveries to 4,21,89,887
15,102 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours
Daily positivity rate 
Weekly Positivity Rate 
76.24 cr Total Tests conducted so far; 11,83,438 tests conducted in the last 24 hours
Ministry of Mines
Efforts to Curb Illegal Mining
The Government has vested power in the State Governments for enacting laws to check illegal mining. Section 23C of Mines and Minerals  Act  1957, empowers the State Governments to frame rules to prevent illegal mining and the State Governments may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make such rules for preventing illegal mining, transportation and storage of minerals and for the purposes connected therewith.
In pursuance of the provisions of Section 23 of the Act, altogether, 22 State Governments namely, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamilnadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, and West Bengal have framed rules to curb illegal mining.
Further, as per the information provided by various State Governments to the Indian Bureau of Mines, a Sub-ordinate Office of Ministry of Mines, the number of cases of Illegal mining in the Country including Rajasthan for a period from 2019-20 to 2021-22 alongwith the details of action taken on the complaints is given at Annexure-I.
ANNEXURE-I 
|
|
Sr.
No.
|
|
State
|
|
No of cases reported during the year 2019-20
|
|
No of cases reported during the year 2020-21
|
|
No of cases reported during the year 2021-22
|
|
Action taken
|
|
FIR
Lodged 
|
|
Court Cases Filed 
|
|
Vehicle Seized 
|
|
Fine realized by State Govt. (Rs.
Lakh)
|
|
1
|
|
Andhra
Pradesh
|
|
8354
|
|
10736
|
|
9351
|
|
39
|
|
24
|
|
3396
|
|
42091.074
|
|
2
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
|
6449
|
|
5376
|
|
3536
|
|
0
|
|
6449
|
|
0
|
|
2974.9952
|
|
3
|
|
Goa
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
1
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
4
|
|
Gujarat
|
|
7476
|
|
7164
|
|
8713
|
|
330
|
|
64
|
|
16858
|
|
35026.19
|
|
5
|
|
Haryana
|
|
1251
|
|
1384
|
|
324
|
|
509
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
2051.077
|
|
6
|
|
Himachal
Pradesh
|
|
2424
|
|
4339
|
|
3230
|
|
84
|
|
1150
|
|
13
|
|
301.551
|
|
7
|
|
Jharkhand
|
|
3269
|
|
n.r.
|
|
1683
|
|
1247
|
|
958
|
|
4895
|
|
1062.88
|
|
8
|
|
Karnataka
|
|
4935
|
|
5584
|
|
5941
|
|
2590
|
|
1375
|
|
1153
|
|
8687.395
|
|
9
|
|
Kerala
|
|
8575
|
|
7400
|
|
7063
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
19136.17
|
|
10
|
|
Madhya
Pradesh
|
|
8223
|
|
11157
|
|
9361
|
|
1
|
|
11736
|
|
11
|
|
126617.79
|
|
11
|
|
Maharashtra
|
|
10456
|
|
11002
|
|
3605
|
|
5511
|
|
0
|
|
25063
|
|
27479.51
|
|
12
|
|
Odisha
|
|
16
|
|
18
|
|
129
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
27
|
|
255.1993
|
|
13
|
|
Rajasthan
|
|
4027
|
|
5815
|
|
9346
|
|
1746
|
|
744
|
|
11794
|
|
21089.967
|
|
14
|
|
Tamilnadu
|
|
66
|
|
70
|
|
1272
|
|
18398
|
|
1589
|
|
13563
|
|
1023.542
|
|
15
|
|
Telangana
|
|
7039
|
|
5620
|
|
2831
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
73
|
|
2789.73
|
|
16
|
|
Uttar Pradesh
|
|
n.r.
|
|
n.r.
|
|
23787
|
|
374
|
|
1840
|
|
0
|
|
19845.08
n.r. – Quarterly return not received.
This information was given by the Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Defence
LAUNCH OF SEVENTH 250 MEN FERRY CRAFT, “MANJULA”  AT M/S SHALIMAR WORKS LTD, KOLKATA
Ferry Craft ‘Manjula’  was launched by Shri Binod Kumar, IAS, Principal Secretary Transport, West Bengal on 23 Nov 22 at M/s Shalimar Works Ltd, Kolkata, West Bengal in presence of Cmde Indrajit Dasgupta, Warship Production Superintendent . With all major and auxiliary equipment/ systems sourced from indigenous manufacturers, this Ferry Craft is proud flag bearer of “Make in India” initiative of Ministry of Defence.
Contract for construction and delivery of seven 250 Men Ferry Craft was concluded with M/s Shalimar Works Ltd, Kolkata in consonance with “AatmaNirbhar Bharat” initiatives of the government of India. Six out of Seven Ferry Craft have already been delivered at Port Blair, Visakhapatnam and Mumbai. These Ferry Craft are being built with a service life of 25 years. The Ferry Craft will provide impetus to operational and logistics requirements of Indian Navy.
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Ministry of Home Affairs
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah urges citizens to change the DP of their social media accounts to Tiranga
Shri Amit Shah changes DP of his social media accounts to Tiranga on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav
Urges all to change DP’s of their social media accounts to Tiranga to show their love and respect towards the National flag
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah has urged citizens to change the DP of their social media accounts to Tiranga. In tweets, Shri Amit Shah said “Have changed the DP of my social media accounts to Tiranga on PM Narendra Modi Ji’s clarion call to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.”
Shri Amit Shah said “I urge all to change the DP of your social media accounts to Tiranga to show your love and respect towards the National flag.”
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs 
Cabinet approves continuation of KhadiGramodyogVikas Yojana from 2017-18 to 2019-20
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the approval to the following:
I. To continue the existing schemes of MPDA, Khadi Grant, ISEC and Village Industry Grant, all subsumed under 'Khadi and Gramodyog Vikas Yojana' at the total cost of Rs. 2800 crore for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20;
II. To bring in a new component of 'Rozciar Yukt Gaon' to introduce enterprise-based operation in the Khadi sector and to create employment opportunities for thousands of new artisans in the current and next financial year .
Rozgar Yukta Gaon  aims at introducing an 'Enterprise-led Business Model' in place of 'Subsidy-led model' through partnership among 3 stakeholders- KRDP-assisted Khadi Institution, Artisans and Business Partner. It will be rolled out in 50 Villages by providing 10,000 Charkhas, 2000 looms & 100 warping units to Khadi artisans, and would create direct employment for 250 Artisans per village. The total Capital Investment per village shall be Rs.72 Lakh as subsidy, and Rs.1.64 Crore in terms of Working Capital from the Business Partner.
Under the Village Industry verticals, special focus shall be on Agro-based and food processing , Handmade Paper and Leather, Pottery and Wellness and Cosmetics sectors through Product Innovation, Design Development & Product Diversification. For this initiative, advanced skill development programmes shall be conducted through existing Centres of Excellence such as CGCRI, CFTRI, IIFPT, CBRTI, KNHPI, IPRITI etc.
Another intervention is to set up 4 Design Houses across the country to capture regional variations, to provide access to Khadi Institutions, to evolve modern designs, ethnic wear etc. with an investment of Rs.5 crore each.
The other key component is to make the 'Production Assistance' competitive and incentive based. The incentive structure focuses on improving productivity, turnover and quality assurances, and would be extended on the basis of an objective scorecard. While the Khadi Institutions would automatically be given the financial assistance of 30%, in order to become eligible for the additional incentive of 30%, these institutions must strive for efficiency, optimal utilization of resources, reduction of waste, effective managerial practices etc.
As a part of rationalization exercise, 8 different schemes of Khadi & Village Industries are now merged under 2 umbrella heads i.e. 'Khadi Vikas Yojana' and 'Gramodyog Vikas Yojana':
 Khadi Vikas Yojana [Market Promotion & Development Assistance , Interest Subsidy Eligibility Certificate , Workshed, Strengthening Weak Infra, Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana, Khadi Grant and Khadi & VI S&T]
 Gramodyog Vikas Yojanaa [Village Industries Grant].
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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Cabinet approves Memorandum of Understanding signed between India and USA in the field of health sector
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved signing of Memorandum of Understanding among the Department of Biotechnology, Government of the Republic of India  and the Indian Council of Medical Research  and International AIDS Vaccine Initiative , USA to contribute towards the development of new, improved and innovative biomedical tools and technologies to prevent and treat HIV, TB, Covid-19 and other emerging infectious and neglected diseases.
This Memorandum of Understanding will further strengthen relations between India and the USA within the framework of international scientific and technological cooperation in fields of mutual interest.